The invention relates generally to the field of filing systems and more particularly to automated docketing systems.
Governments have created judicial systems for administering justice by resolving disputes between parties. In the United States, each state and the federal government has its own judicial system. The federal and state courts dispense justice in as fair and efficient manner as is possible. The caseload of the federal Judiciary increased in fiscal year 1997, reaching historic levels in nearly every category. For instance, filings in: the twelve regional courts of appeals rose 1 percent to 52,319; the district courts rose 2 percent to 322,390 and; the bankruptcy court filings climbed 23 percent to 1,367,364. The state courts are also experiencing an increase in new case filings. The increase in case filings is making it more difficult for the judiciary to decide cases in a timely manner.
In a typical United States District Court civil filing, a party called the plaintiff presents a document called a complaint to the court clerk. The court clerk reviews the complaint and advises the plaintiff of the required fee. Then the plaintiff pays the specified fee to the clerk. At this point the top page of the complaint may be rubber stamped with a docket number and/or date/time stamped by the clerk and a receipt is given to the plaintiff, if requested. The clerk also records the payment of the filing fee in a ledger and processes the complaint. After the defendant receives a copy of the complaint, the defendant files an answer to the complaint with the court. During the discovery process, the plaintiff and the defendant may file many motions with the court. The plaintiff and defendant may also file motions with the court during pre-trial proceedings. After the trial, the parties may be entitled to file post trial motions. It is not uncommon in some lawsuits for the parties to have over two hundred separate document filings.
Most papers that are filed with the court have to be submitted within specified time periods. Most filings contain many pages. Exhibits containing many pages may also be attached to the filings. Typically, only the first page of a filing contains the docket number and the time the filing was submitted to the court.
One of the problems encountered by the prior art is that sometimes it is difficult to read the rubber stamped docket number. This may cause papers to be filed with the wrong case or the improper docket number to be placed on future filings.
Another problem encountered by the prior art is that an attorney""s office may place an improper docket number on a filing, which causes that filing to be filed in another case. The clerk may also misread the docket number and file the paper in the wrong case.
An additional problem encountered by the prior art is that the filing of papers in a court is a complex, manual fragmented process in which many papers have to be received, paid for and entered into the court system.
The bankruptcy court is trying to make it easier for parties to submit petitions and other documents to the court. This is being accomplished by allowing the parties to submit petitions and other documents in an after hours depository. The forgoing does not provide the filer with a receipt that reflects the time of his/her submission to the court or a receipt indicating payment. To facilitate the above type of filing, the Court has previously provided access to a time/date stamping machine to reflect the date and time of his submission to the court. This service was withdrawn after episodes of inadvertent or deliberate filing errors.
An additional problem encountered by the prior art is that a document may be stamped with the incorrect date/time and the actual document may be submitted after the filing deadline for that particular document.
Another problem encountered by the prior art is that the date/time stamp is on the wrong document due to inadvertent error by the filer or clerk.
A further problem encountered by the prior art is that there may be inaccurate fee submission.
This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an automated court docketing system that supplies evidence of the time and date that a document was filed with the court. This invention also processes and accepts payment and generates a receipt reflecting the date/time of submission and payment. When needed, a docket number is supplied. The foregoing is advantageous to the court because the court knows the exact date and time that the document was filed. The processing of payment also relieves the court of an administrative burden. The above is advantageous to the party because the party has proof of the actual date and time that the document was filed and the fee paid.
An additional advantage of this invention is that it provides more accurate reporting and checking of the fees received by the court.
It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that any government agency, government department or private organization may use the docketing system of this invention.